1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting device disposed in the front portion of a vehicle in the advancing direction of the vehicle and including a plurality of lamps and, in particular, to a lighting device having a structure that changes combinations of illumination ranges provided by the plurality of lamps, thereby specifying the control of the light distribution.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is known a device which detects the steering angle of a vehicle to change the illumination direction of a lamp according to variations in the detected steering angle. Such a device enhances vehicle safety, especially when driving through curves at night.
Although the conventional device is generally though. to be acceptable, it is not without shortcomings. In particular, the conventional device exerts control over illumination direction only when the vehicle travels through a curve. That is, the direction of part of an illumination light is changed successively according to the steering angle when the vehicle runs in the curve. Therefore, the conventional device does not sufficiently illuminate a road sign, a pedestrian, a preceding vehicle, an oncoming vehicle, an obstacle or the like.